February 26, 2013

Folklore is the foundation of a culture. It is the sum total of the stories, experiences, art and beliefs of the people living in that culture. But much of it is hidden, and it is the task of the folklorist to discover a people’s heritage and communicate it to others. In a world frequently torn by ethnic and sectarian conflict, the role of the folklorist has expanded to that of peacemaker. The artistic, human and material expressions of culture unearthed by the folklorist offer a way forward for validating all the cultural traditions that comprise our modern societies.

Kiran Singh Sirah is a modern day folklorist. He began his career as an artist and teacher. This led him to establish a number of award winning peace and conflict resolution programs in museums and cultural centers in the UK, focused on sectarian, ethnic and religious conflict, poverty, and gang violence.

He went on to develop arts-led projects exploring modern slavery violations, war, and issues facing socially marginalized peoples. He is now a Rotary Peace Fellow and a folklorist interested in the power of human creativity, arts and social justice to build a truly multicultural society, based on understanding and peace.

7 Comments

This is a wonderful resource! I am a professional folklorist and the interim director of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance in Chicago You can find us at www.jot.org We publish the Journal of Ordinary Thought and offer writing workshops to adults around the city. Additional resources for those interested in folklore are the American Folklore Society www.afsnet.org , Wisconsin Folks http://wisconsinfolks.org, and the North Dakota Folk Arts Program http://www.nd.gov/arts/folkarts/folk.html, and the Missouri Folk Arts Program http://mofolkarts.missouri.edu/publications.shtml ( I have co-developed some teaching materials with the latter two which may be of interest)